Mark Carney has vowed to use federal emergency powers to build homes, clean-energy projects and trade corridors.
During a campaign trail stop in Kelowna, B.C., on Wednesday, the frontrunner for the Liberal leadership race, told Canadians he would use every means at his disposal to build Canada’s economy and “take on” the Americans, including declaring a national emergency.
“Something that my government is going to do is to use all of the powers of the federal government, including the emergency powers of the federal government, to accelerate the major projects that we need to build this economy and take on the Americans,” he said.
“Build, baby build,” Carney said when talking about how his government would push back against U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and economic measures.
“They’re going to drill. We’re going to build. Some of what we build is going to help with our drilling, to be clear, some is going to be energy infrastructure, some of it’s going to be clean energy. Some of it’s going to be a trade corridor. A lot of it is going to be housing.”
He said he would use emergency powers to build up to four million new homes.
Several voices online raised concerns about Carney invoking an emergency to implement his agenda.
“The last time a Liberal leader and prime minister used emergency powers, during the COVID-19 Freedom Convoy, it didn’t end well,” wrote James Snell in the Western Standard. “Citizens Charter rights to expression were violated. Bank accounts and assets were frozen without due process.”
On X, user Riley Knight predicted Carney would use the Emergencies Act to prevent an election and “cling to power.”
Section 4(2) of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms states that in times of “real or apprehended war, invasion or insurrection,” the election could be delayed beyond five years if two-thirds of the House of Commons vote to continue the regime. However, if the Emergencies Act were used in such a way, it could surely face litigious scrutiny from much of Canada’s civil liberties organizations.
Carney also pledged several policy changes that Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre had proposed weeks prior.
“We’re going to have one economy in this country, not 13,” Carney said referring to Canada’s 13 provinces and territories. “We’re going to stop having all our eggs in one basket internationally.”
He vowed to convene the premiers once he takes office to identify the “big projects that are national priorities” and to “sweep away” interprovincial trade barriers. Poilievre called for Canada to trade more with itself early last week, eliminating barriers to interprovincial trade.
Carney also vowed to balance the spending budget within the first three years of his Liberal government and cut taxes for the middle class, also an echo of what the Conservative Party of Canada’s policy priorities have been for years.
Despite a hard-on-America approach, Carney validated Trump’s concerns over border security and the fentanyl crisis, though he doesn’t believe the drug poses a crisis for Canada.
“Fentanyl is an absolute crisis in the United States. It’s a challenge here, but it’s a crisis there, and us doing what we can to help them with that is absolutely appropriate,” Carney said. “Of course, securing our borders is in our interests as much as it is in their interest. What we can change … is to be masters in our own house in absolute control of our economic destiny.”
Melissa Lantsman, the deputy leader of the official opposition, said Carney was wrong to call the wave of opioid-related overdose deaths since the Liberals took power a “challenge.”
“There has been over 49,000 overdose deaths from opioids since the Liberals came to power. This guy lives in a different reality. He simply doesn’t get what’s been going in nearly every corner of this country,” Lantsman said on X. “It’s not a challenge. It’s a crisis.”
https://x.com/MelissaLantsman/status/1890028806360175016
According to the government of Canada, there have been 49,105 opioid toxicity deaths between January 2016 and June 2024, 79 per cent of which involved fentanyl. This represents a 39% increase in fentanyl-related deaths since 2016.
In B.C., where Carney made his stop, a reported 2,253 people lost their lies to poisoned drugs in 2024.
Carney is expected to be declared as the winner of the Liberal leadership race on Mar. 9, making him Canada’s next prime minister. Other contenders in the race include former deputy prime minister and finance minister Chrystia Freeland, government house leader Karina Gould and former Brampton Ont. Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla.